Relationship of amplifier sound to transformer quality?

And yes, the transformers have a huge effect on the sound of tube-based amps, preamps, DACs, whatever.

It is a direct correlation.

...quality transformer is about 80% of final sound...it is essential...

Another factor in transformer selection....

• The transformer acts like a reservoir for electrical energy.
  
• When loud, dynamic music (very fast, like drums) is encountered, the energy required to realistically reproduce that instrument is provided initially from the transformer
• A small trasformer is unable to provide all the energy and as a result there is a tiny drop in the circuits internal voltage
• This is music, the the internal voltage is always changing - not good for an amp
• The voltage fluctuations degrade the amps output signal
• The Bigger the transformer, the better the amp is able to handle the demand for electrical energy, fluctuations are minimal and the result is better quality music

Naim is one company that has always followed this approach. They even build seperate power supplies for most of their gear and it pays dividends. Many other high end amps adopt the same philosophy.

I’ve made seperate power supplies with large transformers for a few components and each time the improvements were significant - well worth the investment. And that was simply increasing the size of the transformer.

Factor in the other advantages listed above and you can see why good designers consider transformers crucial to good design.

Regards

williewonka
1,019 posts
08-04-2016 9:45am
Another factor in transformer selection....
The transformer acts like a reservoir for electrical energy.
When loud, dynamic music (very fast, like drums) is encountered, the energy required to realistically reproduce that instrument is provided initially from the transformer
A small trasformer is unable to provide all the energy and as a result there is a tiny drop in the circuits internal voltage
This is music, the the internal voltage is always changing - not good for an amp
The voltage fluctuations degrade the amps output signal
The Bigger the transformer, the better the amp is able to handle the demand for electrical energy, fluctuations are minimal and the result is better quality music

williewonka, what you have written is simply bad information i.e. not correct. Please don't write incorrect material & misguide the public. it does nobody any good. Your conclusion to use a large xformer is correct  tho'.

The transformer does *not* act as a reservoir of energy. That is the job of the power supply capacitors. Capacitors store charge & if there is a transient in the music, it is these power supply caps that provide the burst of current needed by the amp. The transformer is a conduit for providing current to re-charge these power supply caps. The larger the power xformer, the more current it can handle & the faster the power supply caps re-charge ready very quickly for that next transient in the music.

A small trasformer is unable to provide all the energy and as a result there is a tiny drop in the circuits internal voltage

not correct - a very small transformer cannot handle large currents hence cannot re-charge the power supply cap quick enough. So, the power supply caps suffer a droop in voltage for much longer a time than if a bigger, higher current xformer would have been used.

The voltage fluctuations degrade the amps output signal

correct. it is called amplitude modulation (AM) of the music signal which is a form of distortion due to a badly filtered power supply. 

The Bigger the transformer, the better the amp is able to handle the demand for electrical energy, fluctuations are minimal and the result is better quality music

the conclusion is correct but the bigger xformer is *not* why the fluctuations are minimal. The fluctuations are minimal due to the power supply caps filtering/suppressing power supply ripple. IOW, you could use a very large power xformer & have no power supply caps & you would have huge power supply ripple which would destroy the quality of the music.